Knightfall

Reading this sword-and-magic epic fantasy was like drinking sap straight from a tree; it tasted raw and unprocessed. The plot had great potential to be much better composed. I can see the creativity behind it, but just not well done. 

Knightfall's story underlies the cliché of medieval knights who have to struggle with their internal, questionable conflicts. Something that is interwoven with the classical concepts of Christianity and historical context of those times, like the crusade wars. The narration dedicated itself to the Christian values of the middle-ages. In contrast to that, the tone and diction stayed close to a more modern, impartial, and dissonant language. Modernization is a great opportunity that authors can freely play with, as they are retelling creative stories of middle-ages in a speculative way. However, Knightfall doesn't have the consistency to make it feel real to the audience. Even if the author wants to create an intentional imbalance between the writing style and the story, they should have been cautious about how to do it logistically.  Sometimes this combination got too unnatural during reading the middle chapters. The language is so modern in a world with such medieval aesthetics and social standards and doesn't make sense in some places. It doesn't feel real and creates an alienating effect in a non-artistic way. Also, there is no risk-taking in setting up the narration.  The excessive use of descriptive words is artificial and not daring at all. I expect fantasy fiction writers to face risks while creating a situation in order to make the audience locked in their seats. If the character feels the danger, I need to feel his own danger inside myself, or if a side character embraces the bone-chilling feeling of fear, I need that feeling in its naked, true form. Character emotions are not well touched upon, as far as the audience's emotions and thoughts are concerned.  The writer needs to transgress those boundaries of shame and narrate the story beyond a mere reportage-like text; unless they are just storytellers. But then again even storytellers need to evoke the sentiments to their very end as well.  By that I don't mean using fancy words. Great speculative authors of our time don't use fancy words just for the sake of aesthetics, otherwise we would call them nothing more than pretentious writers. For several chapters I felt like I'm reading a crudely wrapped up world-building with no sense of captivation.


The story is valuable on its own. It follows the footsteps of traditional writings of medieval literature. Great works such as Sir Gawain And Green Knight and Beowulf both showcased the legends trying to find their path in a crooked, unfair world dealing with unjust choices. But this story is not as well rendered as what you might read in Sir Gawain's story. There could be more to the characters' developments and their backgrounds. There could also be more consistency between the long lines of description and the whole narrative. The small pieces of Knighfall are built and they are even orderly. It's just that the sum of these parts are not put together masterfully to make a unique whole of their own. 

Also, the 21st century audience needs more suspense, instead of a simplistic narration of medieval times. That's why modernization should be done carefully and step-by-step.